Study about non-productive binding of cellulolytic enzymes to cellulose and biomass

• Grant number: 13/07884-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: July 24, 2013
• End date: January 23, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Igor Polikarpov
• Grantee: Vanessa de Oliveira Arnoldi Pellegrini
• Supervisor: Ralf Britz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Roskilde University (RUC), Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/18773-8 - Molecular cloning, expression, purification and structural characterization of endoglucanase from Trichoderma harzianum aiming the development of enzymatic blends for production of lignocellulosic ethanol, BP.DD

Abstract

In a modern world, the increase of population and the socioeconomic development causes that the energy demand grows increasingly. One factor that worsens this is that, currently, approximately 87% of the energy used in the world is derived from non- renewable sources like coal, natural gas and oil. From an environmental standpoint, the emissions of CO2 in the atmosphere are responsible for climate change and aggravation the greenhouse effect. These factors together led man looking for alternative energy sources, such as biofuels and renewable green. Differently the conventional ethanol, the bioethanol is made based on lignocellulosic biomass materials, being that the bagasse is one of most abundant biomass available, with a national generation of 701 million tons in 2011, according to IBGE. The conversion of lignocellulosic compost into ethanol can be divided in two processes main: the hydrolysis of cellulose to produce single sugar and microbial fermentation of these by ethanol. In enzymatic hydrolysis, the enzymes exhibit a critical role in the conversion of lignocellulosic waste into fuels and chemicals and developing an effective and low cost mix of enzymes is essential to the commercial viability. Given the importance of knowing better enzyme activity and its indisputable industrial application our goal is to expand our knowledge making it necessary to collaborate with research centers that already have experience with the techniques employed in this study. (AU)